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Pink reigns supreme at Rio rivalry volleyball
RRHS player Keyara Haywood goes for a spike in the Rams' match against rivals, the Cleveland Storm. (2024)
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RIO RANCHO – It didn’t really matter which side you were rooting for; everyone was cheering for pink at “Cancer Awareness Night” on Tuesday at Rio Rancho High School as the visiting Storm defeated the Rams 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-21).
It wasn’t the first meeting between the two Rio Rancho squads this year, but it was the first regular season match (i.e. not a tournament match). Their first game was on Sept. 10 at the APS Metro Tournament, where the Storm won 2-0 (17-25, 27-25).
The two schools hosted the 2024 Volleybash Tournament together, but didn’t end up facing one another.
This time, the two friendly rivals teamed up to help fight cancer.
Both teams were decked out in pink uniforms with pink flair as they took the court, something of a finale to a month of pink trim across all prep sports in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
According to the CDC, in 2021, there were 272,454 new cases of breast cancer reported in the United States. 42,211 people died in 2022 according to the same CDC report.
Next the Storm (16-2, 5-0 in 5A-1) will hit the road to face the Cibola Cougars, tonight (Oct. 24) at 6 p.m. CHS is on a 14-game winning streak and haven’t lost since they dropped a heartbreaker to second-ranked Las Cruces on Sept. 7 in Cruces. Despite the loss, the Storm have risen to number one in the MaxPrep rankings, which should significantly help their seeding come tournament time. Las Cruces is still undefeated.
The Rams will host their Senior Night at the same time, taking on the visiting Farmington Scorpions at RRHS (on Oct. 24) at 6 p.m. Rio Rancho may have taken a few hits lately, but their season does include a respectable seven-game winning streak and the Rams are looking to get some more wins under their belts before the end of the season.
Speaking of the end of the season, the final regular season game is Nov. 7, and it also happens to be the rematch between the two Rio squads.
It’s Cleveland vs Rio Rancho at the Thunderdome (CHS) on Nov. 7 at 6 p.m. The outlook may be very different in the district by then, but wherever the teams are in the standings, it’s sure to be a big finale.
